Author Archives: Sid Cass

Freight rates on the Asia to Europe route have dropped to their lowest levels on record as carriers face off in a damaging rate war amidst weak vessel utilisation. Alphaliner says that the SCFI spot rates from Shanghai to North Europe have reached an all-time low of US$243/teu and could fall further with rates as low as US$150/teu reportedly offered ... Read More »

Sri Lanka is seeking international bidders to supply 16 container cranes for the East Container Terminal (ECT) at Colombo Port which currently ranks 32nd in CM’s World Top Container Ports. A proposal to procure four quay cranes and 12 RTGs has been approved by the government and the Ministry of Ports and Shipping will now instigate an international competitive bidding ... Read More »

According to local media reports, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has threatened to dismiss officials, including cabinet ministers, if they fail to end the protracted cargo processing time at Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port. Widodo said that he was well aware of the legendary delays at Indonesia’s largest and busiest the port which handles two-thirds of Indonesia’s international trade, from his experience ... Read More »

Against a background of moderate international economic development, Liebherr Group recorded a small overall fall in 2014 turnover to a total of €8.82bn (US$9.94bn), down 1.6% on the previous year, with profit for the year down €48m to €316m (US$356m). While the construction machinery and mining division’s turnover of €5.29bn was 6% below the previous year, a more positive result ... Read More »

Egypt’s Damietta Container & Cargo Handling Company (DC&CHC) has ordered four more rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes from Konecranes following a previous delivery of six RTGs to Damietta in 2009. The 16-wheel RTGs have a lifting capacity of 40 tons, a stacking height of 1-over-5, and a stacking width of 7 plus truck lane wide. Equipped with Konecranes Active Load Control ... Read More »

According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), container throughput in the Caribbean ports declined by 8.2% last year. ECLAC said the “limited dynamism” of the region’s ports in 2014 was determined mainly by “the fall in the Caribbean area and on the east coast of South America, where in the first case transhipment operations represent ... Read More »

The mv Meri became the first vessel to be handled in the new Russian Baltic port of Bronka when it delivered the first three of a total of ten RTG cranes from Konecranes. Arriving from Hanko in Finland, Meri was the first merchant vessel ship to transit the recently constructed canal providing access to Bronka. Discharge of the three RTGs ... Read More »

Hong Kong’s under-secretary for the environment Christine Loh has said that she aims to make the whole of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) a low-emissions shipping zone. The PRD area includes the ports of Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzen; it accounts for 12% of everything that is shipped (measured by tonnage) and 60m people live there. Loh told the International ... Read More »

Meridian Port Services (MPS), a joint venture between APM Terminals, Bolloré Africa Logistics, and the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA), is to invest US$1.5bn in a major upgrade of Tema, Ghana’s most important port and logistics hub. The new project will encompass a new greenfield port outside the present facility and an upgrade of the adjacent road network. The ... Read More »

Andrew Penfold, project director at Ocean Shipping Consultants (OSC), has said that ships of 22,000 teu or more could be ordered soon. “There are some fairly well-advanced discussions on some vessels of around 22,000 teu or maybe slightly more,” Penfold told the TOC Europe conference in Rotterdam last week. Currently, the ship with the biggest capacity in the world is ... Read More »